Machiavelli, Sportsmanship, and College Football

Rivalry week of college football has just concluded. After seeing a few of these games and hearing about some of the events that historically have given this week of football it’s name, I am questioning sportsmanship’s place in college football today.

Perhaps one of the best-known rivalries in college football.

In our current collegiate sport environment, where athletic departments are under more and more pressure to win, and win often, there is an ongoing discussion asking “at what costs”. Niccolò Machiavelli, in his famous book, The Prince, outlines many components of successful leadership and power. I believe that college football programs have began to embrace a Machiavellian approach. Although this has led to a more competitive program, it has begun to remove the element of sportsmanship from the game.

A Theorists Guide at Surviving Holiday Travel

Airports are exhausting and disgusting. If you disagree with me, you either only fly private (in which case hello, I’m trying to hang) or you’re wrong. For those of you who qualify as the later, stop glorifying the experience because you enjoy the magic of being thrust through the air into the clouds like a bird. I’m all for reveling in the wonder that is flight, but you’re living in a state of delusion if you think that you can remain levelheaded and sane during your travels. Many aspects of flying relate to some political theorist in some way, from showing up to check-in, to grabbing your luggage at baggage claim, because after all, flying takes skill/cunning/strategy and sometimes when your plans don’t pan out, it’s because of the way the state of nature of the airport is. I wish it were as simple as tying one theorist to flying but this is real life and there’s no perfect theorist that will get you through the nightmare that is flying. So remember, the ends justify the means unless those means get you in trouble with TSA and you never even reach the end because you’ve landed yourself on the no fly list. So listen to the rants of a disillusioned flyer:

Machiavelli in Our Time

Politicians, in the Machiavellian sense, always act according to the best interests of their principality. Whether trying to raise money to support their political interests, increase awareness of an issue or gun for reelection, politicians always have the ultimate goal in mind–to preserve their authority. Since the Italian Renaissance and onward, politicians have adhered to Machiavellian ideals…perhaps now more than ever.

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The Ebola outbreak has spread panic and hysteria across the world. The death toll in West Africa, where the virus’s epicenter lies, is almost at 5,000. The death rate from infection is nearly 40%. The virus is deadly and spreading, with a handful of cases arriving in the United States. As the American people worry about a possible epidemic widening its reach to American soil, creative solutions are needed to eliminate the chance of a viral disaster in the U.S.

The Ebola virus is seriously deadly.

There is no cure or vaccine for the virus, which causes diarrhea, vomiting, loss of internal organ function and internal bleeding. The only way to stop the expanding scope of the disease is to isolate those infected with the virus. The virus has become so deadly in West Africa due to an unacceptable healthcare infrastructure. West African nations–specifically Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone–have been unable to curb the Ebola pathogen because of poor health management and a lack of manpower. West Africa needs trained health workers to control the virus by identifying infected people, treating them, and most importantly, for the larger community’s sake, quarantining carriers of the disease. West Africa needs more people like Kaci Hilcox.

Hilcox, a professional nurse, traveled to Sierra to treat ebola Ebola patients. She did the world a service–selflessly flying halfway around the world to help fight a deadly virus. She exposed herself to danger–possible infection–in order to help save lives. She is a hero, and one who was entitled to a hero’s welcome when she arrived back home in the U.S. on October 24th. Yet, this hero’s welcome was not meant to be.

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When Hilcox returned home, she was forced to adhere to new standards implemented to reduce the odds of an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. A body temperature scanner recorded her as having a 101 degree fever.

Gov. Christie took strident action against Hilcox.

She claims her temperature was later recorded at 98.6 degrees–normal body temperature. She asserts that her body temperature read 101 because she suffered through hours of questioning after her plane flight arrived, which lead her to feel “frustrated and flushed”. She was tested for Ebola by government officials. Her test came back negative, and she showed no symptoms of having the virus.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered a mandatory quarantine of Hilcox despite her negative test. She was forced to live in a tent outside of a New Jersey hospital for three days. Christie defended his decision as one of necessity, but the question is: did Christie abuse his power by forcing Hilcox into quarantine?

Machiavelli’s Favorite Show?

Obviously, Niccolò Machiavelli wasn’t a big fan of television back in his day. However, in today’s world television has taken a large role in the entertainment of our entire world. So how does this relate to Machiavelli? Well, many television shows that we all are able to enjoy today portray ideas that Machiavelli famously wrote about in his book Il Principe. (A.K.A The Prince)

The beautiful Niccolò Machiavelli

So before I go off on my tangent, allow me to explain the main principle that Machiavelli outlines in his famous The Prince which was published not to long ago in 1532. The idea, for which Machiavelli received his own term, ‘Machiavellian‘, is that “The ends justify the means.” What this means is that achieving the goal, justifies all wrongdoings done in pursuit of that goal.

So my question to all of you is, what would television shows be like if they couldn’t include these Machiavellian ideas?

Machiavelli, Dunning, and SEC Recruiting

The SEC (Southeastern Conference) is a group of schools in the southeastern part of the nation that makes up an athletic conference similar in many ways to the Big Ten. For the past 10+ years, the SEC has been by far the most dominant team in college football. Winning 7 of the last 8 National Championships, and currently holding 5 out of the top 10 spots in the weekly AP poll of top teams. Very few people would argue about the strength of the SEC in recent memory, but where the controversy starts is in how they came to be so great at college football – and that’s where Machiavellianism comes in.